{"id":59786,"date":"2018-05-11T16:20:20","date_gmt":"2018-05-11T21:20:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/?p=59786"},"modified":"2018-05-14T12:49:54","modified_gmt":"2018-05-14T17:49:54","slug":"impact-hits-and-misses-5-10-super-serious-josh-mathews-don-callis-is-the-shows-focal-point-winter-returns-is-rosemary-still-dead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/05\/11\/impact-hits-and-misses-5-10-super-serious-josh-mathews-don-callis-is-the-shows-focal-point-winter-returns-is-rosemary-still-dead\/","title":{"rendered":"IMPACT HITS AND MISSES 5\/10: super serious Josh Mathews, Don Callis is the show&#8217;s focal point, Winter returns, is Rosemary still dead?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pwtor-4126204437\" class=\"pwtor-before-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><hr \/><b>SPOTLIGHTED PODCAST ALERT (YOUR ARTICLE BEGINS A FEW INCHES DOWN)... <\/b>\r\n\r\n<iframe src=\"https:\/\/widget.spreaker.com\/player?show_id=3076978&theme=light&playlist=false&playlist-continuous=false&autoplay=false&live-autoplay=false&chapters-image=true&episode_image_position=right&hide-logo=false&hide-likes=false&hide-comments=false&hide-sharing=false&hide-download=true\" width=\"100%\" height=\"140px\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe>\r\n<hr \/><\/div><h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>IMPACT HITS<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Tessa\u2019s Video<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Tessa Blanchard did a much better job in this interview setting than she did on commentary at Redemption. The production values were solid and highlighting her pedigree helps her stand out. Every wrestler who comes into the promotion should be given a video like this.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>X Division Match<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Finally, one of these multi-man X Division matches actually MEANT SOMETHING! What a novel concept! Brian Cage won a six-man at Redemption and there was no follow-up. Last week there was a six man tag match on the show, and again, it didn\u2019t count for anything. This week there was something at stake. The match itself was pretty good (though Aerostar could have badly injured himself with that dive) and given an impressive amount of time. However, why these four particular wrestlers were chosen for this title opportunity wasn\u2019t explained. Shouldn\u2019t Dezmond Xavier be mad he wasn\u2019t in the match since he was on the winning team last week? What about DJZ and Andrew Everett? Do wins and losses not matter? Why was Aerostar in the match if he took the pinfall last week? This is because explanations of any sort take too much work. <\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span style=\"text-decoration: underline\"><strong>MISSES<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><b>Callis Beaten<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: \u201cI thought it (authority figures) was overdone in \u201903 when I first got here, but people are still doing it thirteen years later.\u201d &#8211; Don Callis in January of 2018. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">My how times have changed. The biggest thing going on in the world of Impact is Sami Callihan beating up Callis in Canada. So is Callis going to wrestle Sami Callihan anytime soon? I doubt it. And yet, the angle completely overshadowed the World Title match at the end of the night and every other single thing on the show. Keep Callis in the booth and keep him out of storylines. Seems simple enough. And what&#8217;s the payoff to all of this? Eddie Edwards facing Callihan NOT IN THE IMPACT ZONE! Edwards begged for Callihan not be be fired so he could fight him. Management accepted, but said it had to take place at House of Hardcore. Does that make any sense whatsoever? Why would Callihan need a contract with Impact to fight in another promotion? Dumb. Pointless. Not only was this angle unnecessary, it ruined weeks worth of storylines&#8230;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Eddie Was Right<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Well, this storyline is botched beyond repair. Recently, Eddie appeared to be turning to the dark side. He went too far in his quest for vengeance. His friends were starting to turn against him. He went to jail. Even his wife appeared to have something going on with Callihan. There were some intriguing storyline possibilities to go with. Would Edwards join OVE? Would OVE turn face? Would Alisha join OVE? Instead, they went with Callihan beating up Callis, proving Eddie was right all along. It\u2019s like they went back four chapters in a book and started rewriting it. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Winter\u2019s Return<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Katie Lea Burchill was painfully underutilized in WWE. She jumped to TNA, became Winter, and turned into one of the best Knockouts on the roster. She has returned to wreak havoc on the division once again and- oh&#8230;nevermind, she\u2019s now Katarina and portraying Grado\u2019s girlfriend. If Impact is going to use her for a comedy act it should at least me a good one. But they already did the whole Grado has a girlfriend thing. Are they really going back for more? Second of all, just have Mathews say something like \u201cyou may recognize her as the former Winter, but that\u2019s in her past. She\u2019s a new person now and wants to go by her real name.\u201d Don\u2019t insult longtime fans. It\u2019s one thing to do it for an enhancement talent who comes back with a new gimmick, but she\u2019s part of their title lineage.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Commentary<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">: Impact wanted to put over the seriousness of Callis being injured so they had Mathews go it alone. Gratingly, he talked in a <em>super serious<\/em> voice all night. This is because Callis was injured, you see, and apparently he\u2019s the most important person in the promotion. If any actual wrestler was badly hurt on the show they would get back to normal at some point in the night. Not with Callis. Because this is SUPER SERIOUS. While I\u2019ll take somber Mathews over annoying heel Mathews, this killed the energy for the show in an arena that already has so little energy. It became absurd having Josh call the X Division match and try and put over their great moves while sounding like he was at a wake. As noted, they literally questioned whether Rosemary was dead last week and yet that isn\u2019t why the commentary was so subdued. It was for an injured Callis. The Authority Figure.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Rosemary Follow-Up<\/strong>: Speaking of Rosemary, unless I missed anything her name wasn\u2019t mentioned all night. Again, THEY THOUGHT SHE MIGHT BE DEAD last week. Don\u2019t say and do stupid things like that if you\u2019re not going to take five seconds to follow-up on it. Yes, they showed a bunny and maybe showed Allie might get possessed, but that doesn\u2019t let us know if someone is alive or not. <\/span><\/p><div id=\"pwtor-3743248816\" class=\"pwtor-content pwtor-entity-placement\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280 __336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_test_300x250\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div><\/div>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Kong vs. Moose<\/strong>: I\u2019ve complained so much already. I need a little break. I\u2019ll just go with \u201cthis was a bad match.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>KM Trains Bahh<\/strong>: Remember when Joseph Park trained Jeremy Borash last summer? This was that. It\u2019s gotta be Scott D\u2019Amore who loves this cheesy, lame comedy. Right? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Cage\u2019s NOAH Match<\/strong>: More filler. This could have aired any week. We don\u2019t know who Brian Cage&#8217;s opponent was so this win meant absolutely nothing to over 90% of the audience. In fact, it made him look worse since he didn\u2019t just destroy the guy. If it was going to be more back-and-forth, then they needed to establish who he was facing in advance. Would WCW have showed footage of Goldberg in Japan three months into his run getting beat up by some guy we\u2019d never seen? <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>LAX Loses Again<\/strong>: We get it. LAX needs Konnan to win. But a great tag team shouldn\u2019t be losing to a first-time tag team.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>World Title Match<\/strong>: Moose was an idiot and put up his Feast or Fired briefcase and lost it to Eli Drake. Without telling us, they removed the stipulation that a wrestler could cash in the briefcase at any time. You now have to declare your intentions in advance. Drake then failed to win in a lackluster sup-10 minute match. What a story!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Overall Show<\/strong>: Callis opened up the show by saying Impact is the hottest wrestling promotion around. Really? Does the hottest wrestling promotion around have Scott Steiner as a tag team champion? Does the hottest wrestling promotion around have a disinterested crowd to wrestle in front of? Does the hottest wrestling promotion around take their hottest act a few months ago (L.A.X.) and have them open the show and lose to a first time tag team? This was a disturbingly awful episode. All of the excitement from Redemption is completely gone. There was cheesy comedy. They threw away and rewrote their biggest angle on the fly. The commentary was absurd and grating. I\u2019d honestly have to award this a 1 out of 10. Yes, there were good moments but the bad stuff was so bad it feels like a stretch to give them credit for anything.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"pwtor-end-article-groups pwtor-entity-placement\" id=\"pwtor-2775727427\"><div id=\"pwtor-686230353\"><div align=\"center\" data-freestar-ad=\"__336x280\" id=\"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\">\r\n  <script data-cfasync=\"false\" type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n    freestar.config.enabled_slots.push({ placementName: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\", slotId: \"pwtorchcom_medrec_3\" });\r\n  <\/script>\r\n<\/div>\r\n\r\nTHANK YOU FOR VISITING<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>IMPACT HITS Tessa\u2019s Video: Tessa Blanchard did a much better job in this interview setting than she did on commentary at Redemption. The production values were solid and highlighting her pedigree helps her stand out. <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/2018\/05\/11\/impact-hits-and-misses-5-10-super-serious-josh-mathews-don-callis-is-the-shows-focal-point-winter-returns-is-rosemary-still-dead\/\" title=\"IMPACT HITS AND MISSES 5\/10: super serious Josh Mathews, Don Callis is the show&#8217;s focal point, Winter returns, is Rosemary still dead?\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":48724,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"episode_type":"","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[46,52,28,27],"tags":[5806,4751,2805,982,5331,5971],"class_list":["post-59786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-spotlightarticles","category-opnionandanalysis","category-specialists_hitsandmisses","category-specialists","tag-brian-cage","tag-don-callis","tag-eli-drake","tag-grado","tag-joseph-park","tag-winter"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-content\/uploads\/post\/2017\/10\/DrakeEli_TeschJoel3x2_600.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/11"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59786"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59794,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59786\/revisions\/59794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.pwtorch.com\/site\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}